Sunday, October 26, 2008

Ok, not exactly an activist alert but it is a Sunday and this is interesting and goes to show how natural gender diversity is in the animal kingdom.

"A hen has changed into a cockerel over the course of a two-year sex-swap process.

Georgina the hen is thought to have damaged an ovary, causing her testosterone levels to soar and effectively transforming the organ into a testicle.

The one-in-10,000 switch has seen the animal develop a cockscomb on its head and its voice break - allowing it to crow each morning.

"Georgina was always a big girl and she was surrounded by other hens for two years before she decided to take on the role of cockerel," said Jane Haworth from the Battery Hen Welfare Trust headquarters in Chulmleigh, North Devon.

"It took around two years but George has a cockscomb and seems a lot happier than she was. I think he looks amazing.

"He always had slightly hairy legs which was a bit of a giveaway. He doesn't lay eggs anymore and crows every morning - it's quite a turnaround." (E-Transgender)

This is not the first I have read about transgender animals and I find it fascinating. It shows there is a strong correlation between queer rights & animal rights in my opinion. What do you all think?

There are other stories on trans animals I have come across over time, I'd suggest a google search.

Anonymous - This particular case may not be about gender identity, although the chicken apparently felt better? the report said.There are cases though of trans behavior gender wise in animals who did not develop sexual changes. Please also don't refer to beings as "it" as that is degrading. In this case the rooster is a "he".

what is with this person? All this is saying is the fowl was transition from female to male. The KEY WORD transition. Transgender and transsexual are the same duh! I think you are thinking maybe transvestite or shemale or ladyboy these are all in their own groups. Not transsexual.Intersex isn't close to any of these categories because there is 40 different types of us, but we do have transgenders too.

Most trans people can read your intent in this, just so you know. It's not really funny nor is it cute. Trans people insist on correct pronouns because we have subjectivity--something a chicken just doesn't have. Nor do chickens have gender. I wish you'd stop attempting to report on things you regard as "trans"--you never get it right.

I read this story and wonder if it is a joke...a chicken transitioning into the opposite sex? I have heard of such things in frogs...but a chicken? Is the article real or some sort of prank? Then I scroll down and read the various comments. All I read is bitching. Allow me to paraphrase, "Term usage wrong..shouldn't even try. Ruins the whole thing. Makes Trans more misunderstood.' Not..."what an interesting article questioning the idea of 'normal sexuality' and 'gender identity' within nature itself (assuming the article is indeed factual) and oh, by the way I think the term usage was a bit off."

We are no better than they are. To hell with the homosexual agenda. If we were as accepted as they are we would be standing next to them taking humanity out on someone else and since we are the bottom of the 'born that way' barrel we take it out on each other. We can't get it together because we tear each other apart.

White rich men fought against the oppression of England and the Roman church. Then rich men and poor men fought. Then black and white fought. Then men and women fought. We even fought the Asian Americans in this country and put them in camps for a while. We teeter on the precipice of another such sin with the Middle-Eastern Americans.

We all want to hate someone for some reason or another. Since there doesn’t seem to be anything below us, we hate each other.

A toast then. To us. A community of judgmental granola dycks, bitchy diva fags, punk a-hole boi’s, and the holier-than-thou monarchy of drag kings and queens. And let us dare not forget any letter in that GBLTQURTZ whatever or someone’s gonna get their feelings hurt.

All I have to say is so what. So what if I forgot a frackin letter. It’s actually transsexual not transgendered. It’s asexual not bisexual. It’s mesexual, not yousexual.

Did it hurt your feelings? So what. It hurts worse when your dad calls you a freak. Someone might ‘misunderstand’ the nuances of how your freak sexuality is different than mine? What the frack does it do other than divide and conquer us? Think the guy in the white hood about to drag you behind his truck cares what kind of freak you are?

All I ever see between us is fighting. Unless we’re all drinking and/or fracking or able to parade down the street with thousands of others with giant balloon breasts and paper-machete genitals trying to prove to the world that we are the freaks they say we are.

We should strive to be more like Barney Frank, Ellen DeGeneres, Rachael Maddow, and other queers out there not trying to be queer, just trying to be people.

Alright. Enough venting. I suppose I am working out some issues here and should go blog this.

While people identify as transgender, transgender identity includes many overlapping categories. These include cross-dresser (CD); transvestite (TV); androgynes; genderqueer; people who live cross-gender; drag kings; and drag queens; and, frequently, transsexual (TS).Usually not included because it is considered to be a paraphilia (rather than gender identification) are transvestic fetishists. In an interview, artist RuPaul talked about society's ambivalence to the differences in the people who embody these terms. "A friend of mine recently did the Oprah show about transgender youth," said RuPaul. "It was obvious that we, as a culture, have a hard time trying to understand the difference between a drag queen, transsexual, and a transgender, yet we find it very easy to know the difference between the American baseball league and the National baseball league, when they are both so similar."

The extent to which intersex people (those with ambiguous genitalia or other physical sexual characteristics) are transgender is debated, since not all intersex people disagree with their gender assigned at birth. The current definitions of transgender include all transsexual people, although this has been criticized.

Transsexual-A person who believes that he or she is psychologically akin to the opposite gender and feels trapped in one�s biological sex. A transsexual may seek medical help to surgically change the genitals and other aspects of appearance to match the deeply felt internal gender identity. This is a rare identity that has to be established by numerous psychological assessments; it occurs over many years.

I'd have to disagree with you. Intersex is not part of the transgender crap and never will be. You can't mix physical with psychological. Intersex is not the same as transgender and that transgender is just a psychological condition and more of a mental illness and still defined in the APA DSM VI manual.

ShaunaI am not following anyone. If I have posted something in the same place as you before, I assure you it is nothing more than coincidence. We are both obviously bloggers on Gay issues and I also blog on Christian sites sometimes as well. Though I am guessing you are referring to the former.

Nick is a pretty common name so I am not sure if I am who you think I am anyway. For future reference and to help alleviate confusion, I am a 34 year old lesbian butch 'boi' from the West Coast.

Sorry Nick, not the same one. Thought you were the XXY that was always commenting after me. Oh well. And Whomever the Anonymous is, unless your Intersex, please refrain from commenting from this subject. Yes we are biological but we also have transgenders like myself, PFTF.

Anonymous - Transgenderism is not a mental illness. With scientific and psychological findings we are moving closer to understanding that biology/genes and environment all play a role in development of sexuality and gender.

Intersex people are born with ambiguous genitalia, some are also trans in order to make their bodies one way or the other in accordance with their identity and some prefer to remain intersex. We know intersex is biologically based but that doesn't negate the fact that sexuality and gender identity also have a strong basis in our biological make up.

See, I don't believe that in that mumbo jumbo pseudoscience that the transgender community prescribes to. The fact the matter is that Intersex is not the same as bring transgender. You can't mix physical intersex with so called psychological intersex. The fact the matter is that intersex is measurable and proven such as physical, genetic and reproductive wise. You can't prove transgender because their is no way to measure transgender where as intersex you can measure it. You can't mix intersex with transgender and you can't say that intersex is the same as transgender.

Shauna, you are not an intersex and you do not show any physical or genetic signs of an intersex. I'm sorry your not an intersex person and you are not entitled to be called intersex. You are a transgender and you are using the intersex label as your shield, and excuse.

Anonymous - First I'd recommend you make a name here so you aren't anonymous since you keep coming back. Second, I don't think its right to say Shauna or anyone is or isn't intersex. How does one prove their intersex status? What if it is not visible to the eye and it is inside as a chromosomal occurrence, what if it is a private body part?

Well Anonymous whoever you are, I am more Intersex than you could possible imagine. I was born with intersex. What is Intersex you may be wondering? The condition I was born with is called Ovotestes which are best described as having a partial uterus, one ovary, one testes and breasts on top of that I am a boy.So I thought of other body deformities - birth defects, visible and invisible. Do we say to children with facial deformities or congenital heart disease, ‘God doesn’t make mistakes, so you should remain the way you were created?’ Of course not!

"How, then, is my condition different? Is it because you cannot see my birth defect? Do you simply disbelieve me when I tell you there was a discrepancy between my body and my mind, present from my earliest memory and which I did not choose? Do you think I’m lying or misinformed? I have lived in this body for decades and I can tell you that it was not my choice to have this discrepancy.

"I agree that God does not make mistakes. I believe God allowed this discrepancy in my life for reasons I do not understand, but God also gave me the way to resolve the problem. I believe God loves me even though some of those who claim to speak for God do not love or respect me.

"I realize that your life experience is not like mine. I know that you cannot understand this birth defect I am describing, any more than I can understand what it is like to be color blind, for example. But that doesn’t make my problem any less real.

"So, let me offer this hope that we can accept one another’s differences and take comfort in our shared faith in a loving God?"http://shaunabaggtt.com/about

No as a Intersex, I wanted the world to know I am out & Proud and not ashamed any longer. I was stealth for 35 years.When will you become a person like the rest of us with a name?Are you afraid of something Anonymous ?

That's why and because powerful gays such as Rep Barney Frank and Rep Tammy Baldwin will do anything in their power to wipe out the trans from the LGB community and it looks like if they their way, trans people can be excluded from everything in the book. They both know that trans are not a group they want in their community.

You shouldn't paint a broad brush, there are some gays and lesbians who don't care about trans issues and some trans who don't care about gay issues. Many gays and trans do care about each others issues. This website is looking to unite those activists and we have LGBTQIA activists here. You are welcome to join us and make a name but please don't disparage any group.

This whole notion that an intersex person can't be transgender is ridiculous. Granted I am not an expert on these issues but it seems simple logic to understand that someone born with ambiguous genitalia may want to cosmetically change their parts to better reflect their gender identity. I think there are some intersex people who are not trans, and some who are. This doesn't mean intersex and trans are the same thing, they are different, but sometimes both identities are part of one person.

I WISH I wrote the one referencing Tammy Baldwin and trans hater Barney, who is ON record as feeding hat3ful comments about trans women to Americans for Truth.

Maybe the nontrans homer crowd should clean up its act, and stop crapping on trans folks before rushing to silence us. Believe it or not, clamoring for nontrans homer justice while perpetrating it against transfolks does NOT give you the high ground here.

Own your history, homer! And if my words bother you, consider an active stand against trans marginalization, instead of just beating the messenger.

But then again, leave it to the homers to do the cosmetic thing, and not the right thing wrt trans folk.

and can someone tell me how to make this bloody thing show a name... there are too many anons here!

See, their you go again, you think that trans issues and intersex issues are the same thing. In fact you are so wrong their. Intersex issues are not the same as trans issues. Intersex people and intersex activist are seeking to distance themselves from the trans community.

It stems from the fact that trans activist and trans people are pissing off the intersex by claiming to be intersex when they don't have any proof and they don't have facts to back them up. They go out claiming to be intersex when in reality, it hurts and damages the true intersex born intersex people. What the trans people are doing is erasing the existence of the intersex and erasing the intersex people. You often wonder why intersex people, parents of intersex kids get pissed when you see trans activist and trans people going out claiming to be intersex when all they are doing is lying and conning people.

Trans issues and intersex issues are not the same thing Anonymous, I wish you grow some balls already and give us a name of the moron mentioning Intersex like you knew what you were talking about.I recieved my first period when reached 12, imagine a little boy having that and crying to his parents what is wrong with me?

I don't have to jusify myself to you or anyone, other than my doctor and god. Asshole!

Then prove that your intersex. Show us your DNA Karyotype results from a medical lab. Dates of your diagnosis and who was the doctor that diagnosed you intersex and where did you get diagnosed as an intersex.

Your not intersex because you don't look intersex. You are not intersex genetically, physiologically and biologically. You aint even intersex born intersex and you ain't even intersex at birth. Your a FRAUD and an ASShole, who lies to be about being intersex when you aint even one of them.

All you are is just a tranny who want's to be intersex, because your so sick and tired of being a tranny and you see intersex as an excuse or a holy grail or something you wished you could be but your not.

You got caught in your own lie and got caught by an intersex born intersex person

But who gives a damn? And oh yeah, let's see some ID...I wanna see your credentials, "boy."

She is just some old school MtF woman who wants to justify what she already has by the grace of God and a decent endo: her womanhood. Leave her the hell alone, or I will drive to your house and instruct you on why harassing women is uncool. Hint: Its a very short drive.

That said, I am so happy to see you as the guardian of the true Intersex. Stopping those dangerous MtF women from sapping and impurifying the precious bodly fluids o the True Intersex is the most important issue of our time.

And who better to do it than a fat ugly Asian "dude" from Connecticut like yourself.

Maybe you could go drive by her house and burn a wooden trans symbol on her yard, just to put the fear of the true Intersex into her.Maybe take a few more swipes at her self esteem to make your empty ballsack life a little more meaningful.

Or, maybe you could leave the mtf women alone. Or do you think that being a "man" involves harassing women?

Inquiring minds want to know. Failing that, maybe you just need a little more respect for women.

Well, She is a wannabe intersex and the fact, that she has no proof of being an intersex, she is caught red handed with lying about being intersex and being caught.

She is not intersex and she has no proof of being intersex. She's a fraud and it goes to show how their are plenty of transgender people who are willing to go out and lie to people and tell people that their intersex.

What they are doing is hurting true intersex people and making true intersex people's life very hard to exist because you have trans people faking intersex without any proof.

The kind of Proof I want is a DNA karyotype lab report from the hospital. I don't take anyones word without a DNA karyotype and proof in a form a lab report saying their either intersex or not.

I was looking for information on debt management and somehow ended up here, but felt the need to comment. While I am neither transgendered nor transsexual by any of the commonly accepted definitions, I am the owner of several dozen chickens. From what I've read, this isn't an uncommon phenomena. When you have a group of hens without a rooster to protect them, very often one of the dominant hens will transition into the rooster's role to fill that need. Within the chicken farmer community, in any case, it's not considered unusual.